5/28/2009 @ 6:00PM

In Pictures: Fast-Growing Manufacturers

We hear a great deal about U.S. corporations closing factories and moving production to low-cost labor markets. Yet some American manufacturers, such as those in the following report, ranked by five-year sales growth, are growing and thriving. Advanced technology is one area where U.S. manufacturers can succeed, but there are also opportunities in factory machinery, agricultural equipment and businesses as mundane as manufacturing poles for traffic signals and highway signs.

Few companies have been immune from the economic slowdown, but these growing U.S. manufacturers have managed to expand sales by 15% annually over the past five years and during the latest 12 months. With that trend, it is no surprise that some of them have another common feature: recurring appearances on Forbes’ “Best” lists.

Read on for more about jobs, manufacturing and the economy in our special report, “Made In America.”